Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-09-24

kOC6 opOdluy 40 PINNl dGh Il - hiiilG, SOIE
and spoon, a ~''hookpot' and a pannikln.
riveted on 50 that 1t can be hung on the
hands to eat with. In England ev-
erything Is said to be done by
act Of parliament, and the sail
or's food Is certainly regulated by the act,
and his daily bill Of fare Is fixed by law.
In this country 1t is fixed by act of con-
gress, and in vessels of both nations the
ship captains are compelled, under a heavy
penalty, to post in n conspicuous place in
the forecastle q copy of the agreement
signed ny the sailors on shipping contain
ing the quantity. OF rations signed Cor.
THE ALLOWANCE OF o
The regular allowance Of food for each
man In both English and American mer-
chant vessels should be rs follows: Bread,
one pound; tea, o%ne-eighth of an ounce;
coffee, one-half ounce; sugar, two ounces,
and water, three quarts per day. Beef,
six pounds; pork, one pound and q half;
-four, one pound and a half; peas, one
pint; rice, one-third of q pound per week.
These provisions are to be served out IN
addition to the daily issue of lime juice or
other anti-scorbutics. 1t Is also provided:
mo sheath knives or grog allowed on
board. Substitutes Mt masters option.
The following substitutes are allowed:
One ounce of coffee, cocoa or chocolate for
one-quarter ounce Of tea; molasses for
sugar, quantity to be one-half more; one
pound of potatoes or yams; one-half
pound of -four or rice; one-third pint Of
peas or one-Quarter pint of barley may be
substituted for each other. When fresh
meat is issued, the proportion to be two
pounds per man per day in lieu Of salt
meat"
A landsman might think that one-half
pound Of beef or one and one-quarter
pounds of pork would be sufficient for q
man, but when it is considered that a good
deal of it is cut off as unfit for human
food and thrown overheard, hat the meat
Is weighed with the bone In, and that
when salt meat is boiled 1t shrinks a great
deal, Jack won't have much meat left to
eat with his bareback. The beef, or as it
Is always termed ''salt horse, [" is always
all lean, and the salt pork is generally all
fat. The meat is generally kept ON deck
in two casks called the 'harness casks"
The fat that arises to the surface when the
meat Is boiled in the salt water is saved by
the cook and put into the slush cask. This
siush or fav is the cooks ~perquisite, and
many q pound of fat meat he surrep-
titiously cuts from the e to increase the
AMOUNT in the slush cask. Arriving ut
port this fat is sold to the ~soapmakers, and
the price fetched largely increases the
doctors" pay. A good deal of the meat
has made several voyages round the Horn
or Cape Of Good Hope, and when the cask
is opened smells frightfully, and Is really
unfit for human food.
"wHo's THIS wHACK roRi"
When cooked the meat for each watch
is placed in q wooden receptacle called q
"kid, " and taken into the forecastle. The
peas are made into soup, the flour is made
into duff" 1t is mixed with water and
boiled in q conical shaped bag in salt wa
ter. This makes the outside Of the duff
taste salty. On being taken into the fore
castle, one man cuts the duff into as many
pieces as there are men In the watch, some
pieces larger thar others.
Another one then turns his back, and as
the carver holds up a piece on his jack
knife and says, "Who's this whack forf"
designates the man who takes the piece.
Sugar is eaten with the duff, or molasses
when served out extra, as Is often done.
The pea soup is often made thick by pour
ing q little vinegar in and eaten that way,
and some old salts stir a spoonful Of sugar
In h soup, making q queer mess. On
Christmas day, and maybe the skip
per's birthday, raisins are boiled in
with the -four, and then ''plum
duff" is served. Whenever a pig is
killed on board ship the afterguards
gets chops and sausages, and Jack gets
sea pie, and 1t makes his mouth water to
think OF 1t, for 1t Is a tasty dish, and, like
angel visits, few and far between. This
Is how 1t Is cooked: The doctor places
a layer of bones on the bottom of his larg-
e3t copper or kettle. On this he places a
layer of pork, cut I'm chunks and seasoned;
on this goes a layer of pastry, then another
layer OF pork, and so on, till three layers
OF each are laid. This Is called a "three-
decker, F" and when boiled to perfection is
a sailors delight. The meat is always
sent to the forecastle mt noontime, and It
invariably happens that all or nearly all
Is eaten at that meal, and for the follow
ing supper and breakfast next morning
Jack has nothing to eat but bareback,
washed down with the decoctions called
tea aad coffee. Any housewife knows the
strength Of q decoction made of a pint of
water and one-eighth ounce of tea or one
half ounce of coffee.-San Francisco Call.